


Secrets, Lies, and Hammertech

by Not_You



Series: one only understands the things that one tames [16]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Emotional Abuse, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Phil is a good dom, Physical Abuse, Trials, raised as the wrong dynamic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-10
Updated: 2014-03-10
Packaged: 2018-01-15 06:22:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1294699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_You/pseuds/Not_You
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil is assigned to be part of the court guard during the trial of Justin Hammer, and learns something disquieting about the defendant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Secrets, Lies, and Hammertech

It’s really kind of embarrassing to be assigned to watch over the trial of Justin Hammer. Phil tries not to give in to that kind of feeling. Any mission can become an apocalypse and no agent is too good for any assignment that actually needs doing, and god help them but Hammer does have friends, and they are capable of very aggressive efforts to spring him. Phil has to sit in the crowd, neat and upright and not actively rolling his eyes at the blatant lies of the defense. Clint gets to hide out in the ventilation system and snark into Phil’s Bluetooth until he’s afraid that the Coulson Unflappability Guarantee™ will finally break.

“You know, he looks a lot better since not being able to get spray-on tanner in jail, don’t you think, boss? Almost cute.” Phil has always known that Clint is a smartass, but he hadn’t suspected anything like this level of cattiness. “It’s kind of tragic that he spends all his time copying Tony but is so fucking bad at this game.”

Hammer actually looks quite pathetic, and Phil is feeling pity and revulsion in waves. He’s such a sad, empty little man, and also such an enormous liar. Phil is no stranger to lying for his own ends, but when one is standing beside the empty cookie jar, coated in crumbs and holding the very last one, half-eaten in one’s grimy paw, it is far better to give up gracefully. Phil can feel the jury’s contempt deepening as each piece of irrefutable evidence comes up. The prosecution has the sense to call Pepper as a witness rather than Tony, and her cool, decisive statement is the last nail in the coffin. No one has brought any killbots to bust Hammer out, and he looks so dismayed by it that Phil starts feeling bad for him again.

It doesn’t take much deliberation to find Hammer guilty of all charges, and he goes very pale as the sentence is handed down, looking like he’s about to cry. Phil feels a sudden and wild urge to leap up and put a stop to all of this, with violence if necessary, and blinks, putting a hand to his chest, where his heart seems to be twisting. Justin Hammer is a megalomaniacal narcissist and general dickhead, there is no reason for Phil to feel like this, unless…

It doesn’t happen nearly as much these days, but it still does. Tony being raised as a dom was just wishful thinking, not cruelty. He actually has dominant impulses strong enough that he’s satisfied with Pepper, who’s as submissive as any dom could wish for. For an actual submissive to be forced into a dominant position, molded into an alien shape and forced to act against every instinct they have is monstrous, and Phil shudders at the thought.

“Hey, boss? You look worried.” Phil nods just enough for Clint to see. “Shiiit. Brief me when you can, ‘kay?” Another tiny nod, and then Phil is getting into position to keep guarding as everyone else filters out. Prison details are always dreary, but this one gets him closer to Hammer, who looks smaller than life and like he wants to die. Phil has to ride with him to the prison and wait to be relieved, so he has plenty of time to study the man. A dom would be low in Hammer’s position, but there’s something so needy about Hammer right now. The way he holds his cuffed hands is all submissive. A dom’s would be clenched into fists, or laid very neat and straight on their thighs, maybe folded or with laced fingers. Hammer’s hands are trembling a little, clinging to the thighs of his prison jumper and then letting go and making abortive little reaching movements. Phil has never seen a dom do that in his life, and he doubts that Justin Hammer is secretly on par with Natasha for using tiny details to manipulate people’s deepest instincts.

Once Hammer is safely locked in a private cell, Phil makes a few calls and arranges for SHIELD labs to do a blood test for dynamic factor. There’s a D on Hammer’s birth certificate and in his file, but Phil is becoming more and more certain that it’s another pointless lie. He leaves with the assurance that Hammer will be kept apart from the general population until it is established that he is a dom. If not, he’ll be transferred to a subs’ prison. With that weight off of his mind, Phil can go home to Clint and explain the whole thing to him, Clint looking more and more horrified at it all comes together.

The test comes back the next day. Several tests, actually. The techs ran a whole panel, which shows Justin Hammer as a healthy male submissive. When questioned, he breaks down sobbing as he recounts the beating he received for trying on his father’s formal collar. It would be bad enough if it wasn’t one of his first memories, and Phil shudders to think how small he must have been. “My mother said she’d kill me if I ever did it again,” Hammer croaks, scrubbing at his face, “that I was a dom, and that I’d die a dom if she had to beat me to death.”

Phil is sitting in, and feels sick. This level of abuse will probably be enough for a retrial. A distressed sub isn’t quite legally insane, but it’s a massive mitigating factor in most crimes. Subs aren’t intrinsically weak-willed any more than doms are intrinsically dictatorial, but a sub with no guidance, with no supportive and nurturing dom in their life, is incredibly suggestible. The average sub is raised by parents who acknowledge their identity for what it is, and give them the boundaries and sense of safety that they need. This leads to the sub having some internal resources when other people try to manipulate them for their own ends. Giving a distressed sub bad, self-interested advice is like feeding a starving person rotten meat.

When Phil gets home that night, he clings to Clint for a long time before leading him to the couch to cling more comfortably. He pulls Clint into his lap and tells him a little about Hammer’s childhood. Clint shudders and holds Phil more tightly. “Jesus,” he says. “My dad fuckin’ beat me because ‘a sub isn’t supposed to talk back,’ but at least he didn’t try to tell me I wasn’t one. That’s just fucking sick.”

“So was what your father did!” Phil snaps, unable to help himself.

“…Boss?” Clint eases back a little to better see Phil’s face, his gaze searching.

“I just hate it when you sound like you’re trying to minimize what you went through, Clint,” Phil says, much more gently. He kisses Clint’s forehead and hugs him again, guiding Clint’s face to his shoulder. Clint makes a tiny little whimpering noise and nuzzles in.

“Love you, boss,” he mumbles, and Phil sighs, stroking Clint’s hair.

“I love you too, boy,” he says softly. “So much. The thought of anybody hurting a child makes me angry, and if it’s you...”

“It’s good to be special,” Clint says, and Phil knows that it sounds much more sincere than he wants it to. He doesn’t let go for a long time.


End file.
